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American Society for Public Administration Honors STAR Grantee
STAR grantee Peter J. May has received the William E. and Fredrick C. Mosher Award for the best article by an academic published in the Public Administration Review in 2005. Dr. May received the award at the annual meeting of the American Society of Public Administration in Denver, Colorado, in April 2006.
The award is for an article entitled “Regulation and Compliance Motivations: Examining Different Approaches” (Public Administration Review, January/February 2005, Vol. 65, No. 1: 31-44). The article, funded by a STAR grant, examined traditional regulatory and voluntary approaches to addressing potential harms to water quality. Dr. May examined hypotheses about the role of these approaches and other factors in shaping two key motivations – deterrent fears and sense of duty to comply – which are the basis for actions to address potential harms.
As a STAR grantee, Dr. May examined decisions by marine facilities in California and Washington to address potential dangers to water quality. The central policy issues were how compliance and adoption of best practices can be improved (http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/1050/report/0 ). In brief, his research showed that traditional regulation is generally better at fostering water quality actions than voluntary regulation. Dr. May also found that voluntary regulation can be effective in motivating at least a minority of firms to take action. These findings suggest a greater need for attention to the interplay of regulatory arrangements and situations.
Dr. May is professor of political science at the University of Washington and an adjunct professor at the Evans School of Public Affairs. His research and teaching address various facets of policy design and implementation with particular emphasis on regulatory policy for environmental and hazards policies. He has published widely concerning these topics in policy journals and in several books. May received a Fulbright senior scholar grant for research in Australia in 1991 and was a visiting scholar at University of Aarhus, Denmark in 1998.
The American Society of Public administration, established in 1939, represents all forums in the public service arena. ASPA advocates for greater effectiveness in government, with the belief that by embracing new ideas, addressing key public service issues, and promoting change at both the local and international levels, we can enhance the quality of lives worldwide.